Circle of Stones
by Archer 13
Summary: A lone man walked onto the stage, wearing a simple white robe. He spoke of legends, of gods and their ancient wonders, and of demonic destruction wreaked upon the lands. He spoke of the Kyuubi, and his lone and missing daughter. M for language & content.
1. A Missing Daughter

A lone man walked onto the stage, wearing a simple white robe. He spoke of legends, of gods and their ancient wonders, and of demonic destruction wreaked upon the lands.

The man spoke of the truly great beasts of old. Ichibi, Nibi, Mimbi, Shibi, Gobi, Mubi, Shichibi, Hatsuubi, and Kyuubi. Ichibi was the tanuki sand-and-wind user. Nibi, a nekomata, was the darkness user and a servant of the Shinigami. Mibi, the three tailed shark was the god of water. Shibi, the snake and poisonous betrayer who, when hibernating, causes volcanoes to erupt. Gobi's five tails represented five elements: earth, wind, water, fire, and metal. Mubi, the transformed god of thunder, was finally defeated by Sarutobi, Sondaime Hokage's namesake. The Shichibi, the smallest of the Biju, was the conniving god of earth. Hatsuubi had eight heads and eight tails, representing the soul, the ghost, evil, the devil, monstrous intent, murder, the afterworld and death. Finally, he spoke of the Kyuubi.

The Kyuubi was the nine tailed kitsune, the most powerful of the tailed beasts. He was the king of gods and of demons. He was a fire controller, and had unlimited chakra and strength. He was easily 100 meters tall, and each of his nine tails proved to be a powerful problem in combat. When he fought the village of Konohagakure, the Yondaime Hokage sealed him away at the cost of his own life, but not before he sired a child with the Nibi. The Nibi has been sealed away, but the child was never found, he said.

Until Now.

It was then that a young, scantily clad girl was dragged onstage. She had numerous seals printed all over her body and though her shackles were obviously too small for her wrists, she bore no scars. Her eyes were a fierce yellow, infused with specks of red. She looked worn, though her muscles were toned and sculpted. She sagged under the invisible weight of the angry stares upon her.

"Behold!" The man had said. "The daughter of the Kyuubi! The Demon Child!" The crowd gasped at this obvious revelation, and the girl fell to the floor of the stage. She could hear every whispered thought of their minds, their hatred, their fear. She could see their glares condemning her very existence, and her shoulders slumped.

"Fear not, good people! This demon has been contained. She cannot harm a fly." So as to prove the man's point, the two who dragged the girl onstage proceeded to hit her with brutal force. She had learned long ago to endure, and did not give them the pleasure of hearing her cries of pain. Her blood leaked upon the wood of the stage, and it hissed as if touched by acid. Even the buildings damned her presence, it seemed.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this Demon Child will now perform for you a dance from her father's native realm." At a wave of the man's hand, musicians scuttled onstage with bizarre looking instruments and began to play a haunting melody. The girl stood on shaky legs and began to dance, her confidence disappearing with every step. It did not matter that she was a demon, it did not matter that she was strong. She was tired, beaten, and broken. And she fell.

Up in the viewing box reserved for VIP's, a pair of sea foam eyes looked down upon this so called 'entertainment' with scorn. Although he did not enjoy the presence of demons upon this world, he found that such a display of mistreatment towards another being was, in all sense of the word, barbaric. He watched on with a mask of indifference upon his face, his disgust cleverly hidden.


	2. To Hell With Etiquette

Gaara approached the managers of the traveling freak show that had stopped by in Sunagakure. They were big, burly men with black dots for eyes. The two of them were sitting in their main tent, with the young demon curled up and glaring at them from inside a small cage that they were sitting in front of. They were loudly chatting with each other over the fate of the small girl.

"I've had enough of the little bitch. All she does is whine and glare and mope. She can't dance, she won't sing, and her just sitting there just doesn't attract customers like it used to. She's too… human looking." One of them said, exhaling a long puff from an expensive cigar.

"She's our best act! Everyone loves to see a beat up demon failing. It gives them confidence." The other one said.

"Which is exactly what gets them killed when they stumble into one."

"And what do you care?"

"I don't."

"And that's why you're my partner. Now relax. All we have to do is put up an 'extortion' act in the next big city. We'll be rich, and rid of this fucking whore."

"I don't know… Which city can we go to? Iwigakure? I hear word they don't particularly like demons."

"Ha! That's a laugh. Iwa ninjas are 'demons' themselves."

"Konohagakure then? I'm sure they would love to see some aspect of the Kyuubi die."

"Hmm.. Good point. It's possible to do so, but Konoha is far inland; it would take far too long to get there; not to mention there aren't many big villages along the way.."

"The payout would be worth it in the end, I would think." He took another long draw from his cigar. "Besides, Konoha is far closer to where we are now than Iwa, or any of the other big villages."

_"Whenekere sinakem pertuse. Shakrat sem tikrato ret piame. Net harsamtu shakrat wer raku sha! Ttaka?__"_

The girl was muttering under her breath in a strange, garbled language. Gaara easily picked up the sounds with his sharp hearing, and it sounded familiar. Shukaku sprang to life in his mind and gave a quick translation.

"_Pathetic, Miserable fools. You only care for paper. Come sunrise, you will all be dead. Understand?"_

"_Ha. She's just as conniving as her father. Do you wish to aid her, Gaara? Do you wish to see their blood for what they have done to our kind? It will be marvelous!"_

Gaara shoved Shukaku's thoughts out of his mind and cleared his throat to catch the managers' attentions. Either they didn't hear him, or didn't care. He would _make_ them care. He formed a chair of sand in front of the girl's cage and seated himself. _'To hell with etiquette. These so-called men don't deserve it anyway,' _he thought.

He pushed his fingertips together into a wide triangle shape, and glared over his hands towards the two burly managers.

"I couldn't help but overhear your little conversation, and have an interesting proposition for you…"

* * *

Author's notes-

I'm afraid this one is as short as the first--

I'm still getting used to writing more than two-shot stories, and I'm trying to get to the plot quickly, but it's difficult. Anyway, the language, should it actually appear (This is kind of a test of that) is greek symbols. I was hoping for Sanskrit, but my computer doesn't have it. ;; Sanskrit is really pretty when written, and I didn't want to use Japanese or Chinese because it was supposed to be an ancient language, and while both are old, theyre rather common and still used to write language today. Besides, they're not as pretty as Sanskrit. XD So I settled for greek instead of just symbols. (Which would have taken FOREVER to write.) So yah. Please review, people! Much love!

Ebilangelpheonix… OF DOOM!

Ps- I think gaara's a little out of character in this chapter… but that might be my stupid imagination talking. HELP!

Update!

Hi! A few seconds after I realized that the greek wasn't working, I tried making my own little language. Tell me what you think!


	3. Answers to What Questions?

Gaara walked out of the tent, no smile on his lips, no expression on his face, but his eyes gleamed with accomplishment. Behind him strode the young girl whose name he had yet to learn. Her shackles were off and her seals removed, so her true form exposed itself. She was rather short, only 5'3", and her hair was a darkened shade of brown that, when she blinkingly stepped into the sunlight, shone with fiery ferocity. Her eyes were now a full crimson red, and they gleamed with hellish light. She was clothed in a in a black fighting dress fit snugly against her lithe form, and left a tantalizing bit to the imagination. She walked with a slight, almost unnoticeable limp, though such pain was lost on the humans she passed. As she did, they stared, or in the young females' cases, glared.

'_Whenkere.'_

The two finally arrived at a large round building. Gaara quickly opened the door and walked in, giving no gesture to his secretary as he passed. He slipped into his office and sat down behind his desk, gesturing as he did to the chair in front of it. The demon girl looked at him quizzically before seating herself awkwardly on the chair and crossing her legs uncomfortably. Her eyes bore into Gaara's, who looked back with disinterest.

"Kiken sor shakrat mesir tessan oraku ret pora shi?"

"Reta. Sem reta."

Her eyes widened. "Isa kiken liome?"

"Bor eka siet tikrato isa hisaru cira?"

She gave him a puzzling look.

"Sor shakrat ttaka?" she asked. He nodded, but her question remained.

"Shakrat sor hri ttaka." As soon as the words left her lips, she was before him. Her mouth covered his own before he, or Shukaku, could react. Her hand came up to his forehead and brushed his tattoo with her fingertips. A strange glow emitted from them, and when it subsided a split second later, she pulled away.

"Kike-"

"Speak in your own language, human. For it is obvious you know not of mine."

It was his turn to stare.

"Now," she continued, "what is it that you want of me?"

The puzzled expression left his face, followed by that of almost emotionless determination. "First, your name."

"Hiruseki Kaen, Sabaku no Gaara."

"And what are you?" He asked.

"A fox demoness, Shukaku no Jinchuuriki." She said with a smirk, that showed off fangs.

"And you are the daughter of the Kyuubi?"

"Aye." Was her stern reply.

"How old are you? What is your story? How did you get caught?"

"Slow down, human. Your questions will be answered.

"I was born long ago, before you humans formed boundaries. Before the Shinobi nations, before the Kages and before the invention of your modern weapons. When I was but a pup, I would hunt your people for sport. You were stupid, then. You feared, and your fear was invigorating. I remember when your people finally learned from ours, and you rose up against us. Your kind destroyed my father's castle and dethroned him as king, and five men sealed his form into that of a fox. But he was too powerful to be sealed into such a small form, and so that form grew to enormous size and killed them. But this was not their true intention, you see. The men didn't want Kyuubi, they wanted Nibi, my mother. Their sons sealed her into the form of a cat, and banished her soul into a statue, leaving her body to rot away. I watched her bones fade into the centuries, watched as the sons of those five men became great warriors and founded the five great Shinobi nations.

"Time passed, and the nations began devistating wars between one another. The remaining great demons who had yet to be sealed away into.. objects took glee in taking sides with one nation or another. Lesser demons were hired out to work for the nations. Our word for them was Meurkinarie, traitors. This is where your word mercenary comes from, human. My father took no part in such battles. He was a great demon, a lord, and so did not sink to such levels. One day, grass ninjas enraged Kyuubi so much that he attacked them. The ninjas brought Kyuubi back to Konoha, where a great war with them ensued. The Yondaime Hokage sealed my father's spirit away into his son, dying in the process. I watched the Hokage's life slip from his eyes, and father's spirit separate from his body; I have never again heard a fiercer roar, nor saw worse pain in a being's eyes. I was… inconsolable after father's defeat, and so roamed these lands, killing those unfortunate to cross my path. One day, I stumbled upon that disgusting yellow tent. The men instantly recognized me from my eyes and tried to slap seals on my body. I dodged as much as I could, but the seals followed. Try as I might, they followed. For twenty days, I dodged those seals, but my tiredness and my emotions caught up with me. The seals hadn't come off since. Those men gave me no food and no water until I gave into their demands. After ten more long, unrelenting days, I collapsed. They placed those shackles on my body, and dragged me into a small cage and left me there to be stared at by the humans I once hunted. At nights, they would _defile_ me in every way imaginable, slitting gigantic cuts into my body and pleasuring themselves in my blood and flesh. Then they would throw me back into my cage with a small piece of bread and a cup of urine to eat and drink. This continued for seventeen years, until you gave them that stack of papers and they released me."

If there was no emotion on Gaara's face before, it was replaced by a look of pure disgust.

* * *

"Kiken sor shakrat mesir tessan oraku ret pora shi?"-What do you want in exchange for my life?

"Reta. Sem reta."- Answers. Only answers.

Her eyes widened. "Isa kiken liome?"- To what questions?

"Bor eka siet tikrato isa hisaru cira?"- Why does sand care to fuck oranges?

"Sor shakrat ttaka?"- Do you understand?

"Shakrat sor hri ttaka." -You do not understand.

The 'kiss to learn a language' idea was taken from red river (or Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori: Anatolia Story), yes. I couldn't think of any other way to do it and I didnt want to type everything out in one language and then translate it in gaara's mind in english. XD

Red River C. chie shinohara.

Naruto & the naruto world are c. Masashi Kishimoto.

Kaen Hiruseki, however, IS MINE.

As is the language she speaks. MINE. I made it, don't take it.

Well, there you go, folks. Many thanks to dns94 for the support and to vallin55amaya for Kaen's name. Much love!

Ebilangelpheonix… OF DOOM!


End file.
